Career
Born in the United States, Ruffels moved to Australia after his dad, a native Australian, received a job offer there. In Australia, he found his passion for golf. He was on the winning team in the 2013 Ten Nations Cup.
He also followed up with a victory in the teams championship, representing Victoria, later that week.
Other notable performances include a 4th-place finish at the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, winning the 2014 Callaway Junior World Golf Championship, two top-25 finishes in the 2013 and 2014 Australian Opens and a tied for 17th finish at the 2014 Australian Masters. In January 2016, at the age of 17, Ryan turned professional becoming one of the youngest pros in the world.
Ruffels was born in Florida, but moved at a young age to Southern California. He was an avid athlete, participating in many sports such as tennis, soccer, and golf.
However, golf didn"t become serious until a few years later.
His schooling was bilingual, and he is now fluent in both Spanish and English. Ruffels moved to Australia after his dad, tennis pro Ray Ruffels, was offered a major job in Australian tennis. In Australia, Ryan shed all other sports and focused on golf.
He was one of the top amateurs in the world, being ranked number 18 on the World Amateur Golf Ranking in January 2015.
Ruffels made his first professional appearance at the 2013 Victorian Open where he missed the cut. Later that year, he made his first cut in a professional event at the Isuzu Queensland Open, finishing in a tied for 19th position, and being the youngest person in the Professional Golf Association Tour of Australasia"s history to make the cut at one of their tour events.
Since then, Ruffels has added a T-17th position at the 2014 BetEasy Masters and a T-26th position at the 2014 Australian Open to his growing professional resume. 2012 Srixon International Sub-Junior Driver: Nike Vapor Pro 9.5 (Fujikura Speeder Proto 73 grams X-flex) 3 wood: Nike Vapor Flex 15 (Fubuki 85grams X-flex) Irons: Nike Vapor Blades 3-9 iron (Project-X 65) Wedges: Nike VR Forged (48° 10° bounce, 52° 10° bounce, 56° 14° bounce, 60° 8° bounce) (all Dynamic Gold South-400) Putter: Nike Method 001 Oven prototype Ball: Nike RZN Platinum Prototype Amateur Eisenhower Trophy (representing Australia): 2014 Ten Nations Cup (representing Australia): 2013 Toyota World Junior (representing Australia): 2013.
